1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to pressure transducers, more specifically to highly responsive gas transducers capable of operating under high pressures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pressure transducers have advanced significantly in the past few decades driven in part by their demand in machine and process industries. As high performance electronic control interfaces replaced manual pneumatic control interfaces, which required manual inputs to change transducer settings, the demand for high pressure transducers continued to grow accordingly. Although the process industry is satisfied with signal pressures of no more than 30 PSIG, continued drive in automation of the machine industry fueled the demand for pressure transducers capable of operating under much higher pressures. In the machine industry, typical source pressures can reach up to 150 PSIG, with some transducer designs operating above that threshold. Currently, the machine industry is utilizing pressures over 500 PSIG to perform specific operations, further driving the need for transducers capable of controlling such high pressures. Unlike in the lower pressure transducer segment, selection of transducers to fill the demand for such high pressure needs is very limited. Transducers well-suited for this task are required to be highly accurate, responsive as well as stable.
The current state of the art is an electro-pneumatic transducer. A challenging aspect of designing such transducers for high pressure operation is the primary electro-mechanical converting system. This section is responsible for converting the electrical input control signal into a pressure signal through the use of an electro-mechanical converting element. The electro-mechanical system actuates a pressure control system which allows for the flow of control gas. Conventional transducers utilize electro-magnetism and/or piezoelectric elements in the electro-mechanical converting system.
Conventional pressure control systems utilize high gain pneumatic flapper nozzle valve in either variable orifice or fixed orifice configurations. Traditional flapper nozzle valve technology is not viable due to high gas consumption. Attempts to limit gas consumption resulted in the need for smaller orifices and nozzle sizes, which require sophisticated filtering to prevent clogging. Thus, there is a need for efficient transducers having high response rates under high pressure conditions.